City Court Judge Walter F. Williams of Chattanooga will attend training to enhance the quality of his performance on the bench and also could receive a 30 day suspension from office under terms of an agreement reached Monday with the state Court of the Judiciary.
"Although the charges against Judge Williams are serious and egregious, his conduct does not appear to be criminal in nature," said Jerry Scott, disciplinary counsel for the court. " The various counts included in the settlement could be categorized into four specific areas - improper sentences for criminal contempt; improper sentences for civil contempt; failure to inquire, as required by law, regarding the ability of defendants to pay fines prior to imposing jail sentences for failure to pay fines; and threats of sending defendants to jail if they failed to get a GED".
Under the agreement, 20 counts of the court's formal charges against Williams are withdrawn and four counts of judicial misconduct are retained. The remaining counts are Nos. 4, 5, 21 and 22 of the original counts included in formal charges filed May 7 by the court.
The agreement, signed by Presiding Judge J.S. Daniel for a majority of the hearing panel, is "in the best interest of everyone," Scott said. He said Williams never has attended training at the National Judicial College, which he is required to do as part of the settlement. The state will not pay the judge's expenses to attend the court-ordered training, he said.
"Under the agreement, his 30 day suspension will be suspended for 36 months," Scott said. "If there are no further formal charges of the same types during that time, the suspension will not take place. If there are charges of the same types during the 36 month period, the same four charges also could be reactivated. As to any new charges, Judge Williams would face the full range of sanctions available to the court if found to have committed an act of judicial misconduct."
Scott said the agreement averts the need for a trial, which was scheduled to begin Wednesday in Chattanooga. He said a trial would have been an inconvenience to witnesses scheduled to appear and would have disrupted normal business in the courthouse. Also, he said it could have been costly for taxpayers since it was scheduled to continue for three days and involved 11 of the 15 members of the court in addition to judicial staff.
"We believe this is a reasonable and fair settlement for everyone involved," Scott said. "The Court of the Judiciary is limited by law in its remedy powers. The court may suspend the judge only with pay because the state Constitution prohibits suspension or reduction of a judge's pay during the term of office. Other sanctions available to the court include issuing a cease and desist order and imposing limitations and conditions on the judge's performance. The court also may enter into a deferred discipline agreement as has been done here."
In the most serious cases, historically those involving intentional criminal conduct, the court may recommend removal from office, which ultimately is a legislative decision. The only other remedy the court may impose is a private admonition which has to be agreed to by the judge. All sanctions are subject to review by the Tennessee Supreme Court.